Sunday, July 29, 2012

Static Stretching

The reality: "Stretching cold muscles, tendons and ligaments can actually harm them since they are relatively stiff to begin with," Olson says. "Instead, warm up your muscles at the beginning of a workout by doing dynamic movements, such as walking briskly for five minutes, performing half-squats with just your body weight, and marching with high knees. These activities will increase circulation of oxygen-rich blood to your muscles and literally warm them -- increase their metabolism, which produces heat. Save static stretching for the cooldown part of your workout, when your muscles are very warm and extensible."